Travel has become increasingly inconvenient and sometimes impossible over the last couple of years. However, museums around the world are digitizing their collections, enabling people to tour the museums from afar.
The British Museum, London
The British Museum contains objects from around the world, including the Rosetta Stone, with three versions of a text that helped researchers learn to read ancient Egyptian. The Great Court's ceiling, in the middle of the museum, is composed of 3212 pieces of glass, none of which are alike. The virtual tour of the museum offers a 360-degree view of the room, allowing visitors to look at every piece.
MASP, S ão Paulo
The first modern museum in Brazil, the Museu de Arte de São Paulo includes art from the 14th to the 20th centuries. The paintings, which are placed on glass panels, appear to be floating in mid-air. This setup, included in the virtual tour shows, makes the art appear almost magical.
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea
This Korean museum includes four branches in different cities and features works of art from Korea and around the world. The art includes a variety of media such as print, sculpture and photography. There are also online exhibitions such as "Artists in Their Times" which traces trends in Korean art since the late 1970s.
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles County
This museum, with locations in two different places, features art going back to The Neolithic Period. Its virtual tour, accessible through Google Arts & Culture, offers views of more recent works, including some by van Gogh and Renoir. Another platform, Xplorlt, also features views of some of the museum's outdoor spaces.
Recently, I had the unexpected pleasure of witnessing a basketball game played by local villagers in Guizhou province. Despite being amateurs, the teams played with professional-level format and refereeing (裁判), creating an intense atmosphere. The rescheduled final game of the Guizhou country basketball league, known as the "Village Basketball Association (VBA)," took place in Taipan Village.
The game attracted a large audience
even on a weekday. The live stream of the game on social media platforms received 5. 66 million views, generating buzz with hashtags like "what does ‘sold-out' look like. " So, why are grassroots competitions like this more attractive to people like me than professional games? I believe it's because sports arise from the grassroots level, allowing everyone to connect socially and find common ground.
The VBA reminded me of a basketball game I experienced during my visit to Yangshuo in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. Bored of the scenic landscapes, I took a break and joined the locals and other visitors on the sidelines. Sitting on the bare ground, I felt so authentic and free that it released all my thoughts and emotions.
Similarly, in the VBA game, the winning team received modest prizes like live ducks and cooked meat, showcasing the genuine and down-to-earth nature of the competition. I even wondered if the players were cooks or farmers who could prepare the food right off the court.
The sudden popularity of the VBA can originate from the pervasive influence of social media and people's desire to explore something different from their immediate surroundings. However, what truly resonates (共鸣) and has the potential for further growth is the pursuit (追求) of spiritual fulfillment. Grassroots sports offer an accessible and fulfilling experience, making them an ideal destination for individuals seeking a deeper connection.
"Dear Afu, who is Beyonce?"
"Beyonce is an American singer, songwriter, actress, record producer, and dancer, who set a record with 32 Grammy wins. . . "
"Good. Tell me how I can have two girlfriends. "
"Are you crazy? If you do that, your secret won't go undiscovered!"
This was a conversation I had in a WeChat group called "Talking with your robot", an account based on Chat Generative Pretrained Transformer technology. To me, the respondent was no different than a real person. ChatGPT as the new-generation talking AI has impressed global users, me included, ever since it surfaced online on Nov 30.
The new feature can answer questions, do translations, summarize essays and even draft codes for a computer program. It is as good as a human living inside a computer.
ChatGPT is making life very convenient. A time might come when one hands it content and it produces a well-made Powerpoint presentation. That could, however, mean job losses. After all, if a computer program can write code, then it would make a programmer redundant.
That may be a worry, but it is still premature. ChatGPT has more advanced learning features, but it still follows the same technological path. Its biggest advantage lies in the ability to carefully examine an ocean of data and rebuild words into a language, but it's still not that creative.
Artificial intelligence can quickly draw a picture, but that picture will be based on pictures it is fed. It can also write science fiction, but based on content about the future that it has read.
In comparison, a human brain imagines the future and then puts in efforts to realize it. AI can imagine a future with faster spaceships, but it can't imagine a world of space elevators as humans can. So, there is no need to worry too much. By being creative there will be plenty of opportunities for humans to score over AI.
Processed foods like chips, sodas and frozen pizzas are full of salt, sugar, and fat. Now, scientists are trying to understand if there is something else about such foods that may be bad for humans.
The researchers created a system that places foods into four groups. The system says highly processed foods are made mostly of industrialized materials and additives (添加剂). Sodas, packaged cookies, instant noodles and chicken nuggets (鸡肉块) are some examples of highly processed foods. But also included are products that can seem healthy, such as morning cereals, energy bars and some kinds of yogurt.
Researchers conducted a four-week study involving 20 people. They found that people ate about 500 more calories a day when fed mostly processed foods. That is compared to when the same people were given less processed foods. The researchers permitted the 20 participants to eat as much or as little as they wanted. They were taken to a medical center so their health and behavior could be observed. In another study, researchers in France found people who ate more processed foods were more likely to have heart disease. A similar study in Spain linked eating more processed foods to a higher risk of death in general.
The scientists also found that people ate processed foods more quickly. Kevin Hall is one of the researchers who led the study. He said that processed foods were usually softer and easier to chew and swallow. Hall noted the source of nutrients might make a difference. For example, fiber from fruit and vegetables may be better for making people feel full than fiber added to packaged foods such as energy bars and yogurt.
Avoiding processed foods can be hard, especially for people with limited time and money. Processed foods can also take many forms. In addition, companies continually re-engineer products to make them seem healthier. The newest studies may provide more reasons to avoid processed foods. But, they also call attention to the difficulty of coming up with ways to do that.
D
Foods made mostly of industrial materials and additives.
We youngsters believe that our responsibilities to the country begin only when we enter the workforce. This is because we consider ourselves as helpless to do anything at that time.
Raise awareness of important social issues in the country. The voice of the young can make itself heard in areas like education, pollution and health care. These are issues that directly influence our lives and should be taken notice of by us.
Support the community by actively participating in volunteering. Volunteers are always needed to assist old people's homes and other charity organizations. Simple things like cleaning the house, entertaining or listening to the elderly, or making voice recordings for the visually disabled are all within our reach and far more significant than shopping or hanging out at shopping malls.
Participate in all kinds of activities that promote our environment. Planting new plants and trees to minimize pollution and create a clean environment in which to live. Using one-off materials, such as plastic bags and lunch boxes, also causes burden to nature. We should avoid these and many other similar behaviors if we want to see a better environment.
There are many things we cannot do right now, such as influence public policies, but we may prepare ourselves to be ready when the time comes for us to contribute. A significant amount of time and money has been invested in developing us as young leaders of the future, and we must not ignore our responsibilities. In the end, taking on our responsibilities to our society is a big step in helping to improve life in our country.
A. Get well prepared for any possibilities.
B. Invest time and money to ensure a better future.
C. Other efficient strategies include not throwing rubbish everywhere in the streets.
D. As a result, we postpone any duty until we enter the workplace.
E. But we should realize that there are roles we may play at the moment.
F. Thus, by providing our services regularly, we are promoting a caring culture.
G. By showing that we care about our society, we can better ourselves and our country.
As a medical student at Gadjah Mada University, I spent most of my time studying in classrooms. So I didn't 1 speak with patients in hospital. Then I 2 to visit the neurology ward(神经内科病房) at Dr. Sardjito Hospital.
One cold evening, I was in the ward, looking for a stroke (中风的) patient, whom I would call Ms A, to gather some 3 information for my study. Holding a form, I walked into her room. Ms A was lying on the bed, 4 still weak. There were no relatives with her. In a(n) 5 voice I asked how she was going. She softly replied that she was getting better.
After I finished, I prepared to leave. Before I could 6 , Ms A started talking about herself. She shared her difficulties and 7 , talked about her husband, who was killed in a car accident. Without being 8 of it, I had begun holding Ms A's hand. Since I didn't have anything to say, I just sat quietly while she was talking. That's when it 9 me that she just wanted me to listen. All I did was to nod my head as a way of showing my 10 .
Finally, Ms A stopped talking. "I'm very sorry for keeping you listening to my problems, but I feel better with some 11 now. "
I still held her hand and 12 at her, saying "It's OK, Ma'am. It's part of my duty. " Then I stood up and waved goodbye to her.
However, I'll never forget what the 13 has taught me. Sometimes patients don't necessarily need expensive medicine or 14 technology. They just need someone with the patience to 15 an ear and spare a little time to them.
Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, one of the top ten ancient Chinese paintings, shows the prosperity (繁荣) of Bianjing, the capital of the Song Dynasty. (regard) as "China's Mona Lisa", the national treasure kept in the Palace Museum in Beijing is displayed only every few years.
The 528-centimeter-long work is well-known its reasonable arrangement and perfect composition. With the painting (gradual) unfolded, the first thing to catch the eye is the early spring scenery outside Bianjing: streams, bridges, boats and sprouting (发芽) trees. Some travelers are hurrying on their way in the thin fog, (present) a typical picture of the Qingming Festival.
At the end of the country road (come) the middle part--the Bianhe River, the "Golden Waterway" of Bianjing. Several ships are sailing on the river while some others are docked (停泊) with goods being unloaded, truly shows the advanced shipping industry at that time.
The last part is the crowded and noisy downtown, where (vary) people are going about different kinds of businesses. So incredibly alive does the painting look that it seems as if we could see the people walking by and hear they are talking about.
Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival serves as window to the Song Dynasty, providing very valuable materials for future generations (understand) and study Chinese people's economic and social life over 800 years ago.
